The Relationship between Perfectionism, Coping Style, and Self-esteem with Psychological Distress in Students

Aim and In recent years, the prevalence of psychological distress, especially anxiety and depression has led many researchers to study and determine variables associated with it. These variables can include perfectionism, self-esteem, and coping styles. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the relationship between perfectionism, coping style, and self-esteem with psychological distress in students.
Methods and Materials: The research method was descriptive correlational. The sample group included 804 of students in universities of Kerman City, Iran, selected using cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Mental Health Inventory-28 (MHI-28), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS), Rosenberg self-esteem Scale (RSES), and Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS). Data analysis was performed via SPSS software using Pearson correlation coefficient, and simultaneous regression analysis.
Findings: The perfectionism and the emotion-oriented coping style positively predicted psychological distress, whereas problem-oriented coping style and self-esteem negatively predicted psychological distress. But, avoiding coping style was not a significant predictor of psychological distress.
Perfectionism, the emotion-oriented coping style, and low self-esteem result in psychological distress. By employing positive coping styles, high self-esteem, and decreased perfectionism could prevent psychological distress.